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Alphas Review: An Average Series Premiere

A band of special individuals coming together, while fighting a group of evil superheroes? Sounds like X-Men. The use of these abilities to solve crimes? Hello, Heroes.

I suppose the X-Men tilt is to be expected because Alphas is from X-Men: The Last Stand writer, Zak Penn.

For the most part, the "pilot" was middling, but there was just enough from the characters to at least warrant sticking around for a few more episodes. Because if certain flaws can be corrected, SyFy has the potential for another hit.

Let's start with the characters. The best among them is easily David Strathairn’s Dr. Lee Rosen, the leader of the group. He juggles the intricacies of babysitting and work as a therapist with leading and getting results from his Alphas.

I hope some of Rosen’s home life will begin seeping into his work life. Watching him interact with Don offered bits of comedy that were lacking throughout the rest of the episode. It's something I hope can be translated into a better working chemistry for the Alphas.

Bill Harken as the strength-enhanced leader of the group? He felt mostly like the jock who just does what he wants. His chemistry with the team was lacking. That's what happens when you're more concerned with eating their food and ordering everyone around.

Gary’s power of reading wireless transmissions is a pretty cool. I hope to see more of it.

Nina and Rachel are easily a couple of my favorites of the team and probably have the best powers of all. Nina’s ability to influence people is awesome, if only because it’s basically a Jedi Mind Trick, while without Rachel's senses, the procedural elements wouldn’t work.

Finally, Cameron has the most potential. Consider the troubled past, a problem following orders and the impressive talent of possessing a mind and body in perfect harmony.

The average parts of the premiere were the story and overall mythology. Not much happened. I understand the need to take your time and introduce the characters and their interactions, but the interactions they had when they weren’t crime solving were mostly boring.

Granted, the case was fun, but I lost any interest as to why the villain was controlling them.

Overall, if Alphas can improve upon some of its core storytelling themes, it has definite potential. The cases need to be smoothed out and connected to the overall mythology in a more cohesive manner. The characters need to find a better rhythm for those moments when they aren’t crime solving, or perhaps those down moments should just be skipped.

Other thoughts:

They can’t afford a better minivan? Just how poor is this division? Can’t Nina mind bend someone into loaning them an SUV or cooler minivan?

Gary fixed the TV. I think he deserves the chance to drive.

What did everyone else think of the premiere? Is Alphas worth another shot next week?